Daring to Disrupt: Reimagining the Aging Experience was the title of this 5th Summit presented by Canada’s Centre for Aging & Brian Health Innovation (CABHI) founded in 2015, fast approaching its tenth anniversary. First a description in a nutshell. As part of an expanding AgeTech sector, CABHI is powered by Baycrest as a technology innovation research, development and funding centre for aging and brain health.
In their efforts to help create awareness of its ongoing activities in funding innovations, one area CABHI is best at is engaging and educating the general public, in particular older adults and those who care for them, as evidenced in their relatively new program called Leap which I signed into last Fall. One way you can take part in Leap is to help test and give feedback on the design and user friendly nature of technology solutions in the works.
Back to the 2023 Summit. Compared to last year’s two-day Virtual event, this one-day was just about right, still jam packed with speakers addressing topics not unfamiliar to those of us who have attended previously. In this my fourth CABHI summit, I was reminded that advancements in tech solutions tend to be adopted in the market incrementally. Yet it’s a never ending stream of development and the persistence in funding innovations deserves to continue in flow.
For example this year one panel hosted by the Ontario Brain Institute discussed how neurotech (neuroscience + technology) can help older adults obtain access to care as they desire to live and age in the homes of their choice. One such neurotech company representative on the panel was Jennifer Giordano,Manager of Clinical Operations at RetiSpec which provides neuro imaging for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease through a simple eye test.
Once again the highlight for me was the Mentorship, Capital and Continuation Program (MC2) Pitch Competition. Some of the same innovative companies from 2022 were entered for a $1000 People’s Choice award from AGE-WELL.From the fifteen pitch choices, my choice which didn’t win last year was the 2023 winner – LUCID, a digital music therapy company.
However, summit attendees were asked to select two, so my other choice was ZinniaTV– customized videos that families can download for a loved one facing cognitive changes and dementia. Check the company website in the link above. Simply put, “Zinnia TV videos are slow-paced and undemanding for people who struggle to process rapid images, follow a plot or tell fact from fiction.” This has got to be one prime example where content creation is everything. Bravo.
Last on the agenda for this years’ summit was a conversation between CABHI President and Chief Scientist Dr. Allison Sekuler and special guest, Health Journalist and Order of Canada member Dr. Marla Shapiro. Having heard the eloquent Shapiro speak numerous times, it was guaranteed that this fireside chat would be insightful and robust, and attendees were encouraged to ask questions during this LIVE session.
Given that the discussion was about how the COVID pandemic disrupted healthcare, what we learned, and where do we go; this was a dialogue that needed a level headed mind and that is what we got. My question which I was happy Dr. Shapiro responded to was: Overall what needs to be done now to consistently educate and build trust in the importance of public health policy to effectively make response to a future pandemic?
Perhaps there was to be no surprise at her response; building trust – what we needed throughout the pandemic was “a uniform system of communication, uniform language and messaging that was easy to understand”. This was a challenge considering that the experience and data about the pandemic kept changing.
And as Shapiro noted there is a difference between understanding and balancing concerns about the good of our own individual health with that of the public good. Her advocacy message was that we should also begin by educating younger adults about financial health and wellness and how financing later life care is important; and regardless of age, should we not have learned through the pandemic, social connectedness is best for ageing well.
